


Sun Will Rise

by nymja



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Established Relationship, F/M, Force-Sensitive Finn, Jedi Day Care Tree House, Jedi Finn, Married Battle Couple, Time Skips, Voxyn, a bunch of KOTOR cameos because what is continuity
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-30
Updated: 2016-07-14
Packaged: 2018-07-19 04:12:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7344424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nymja/pseuds/nymja
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The war is over. They lost. Three years later, the First Order has a new priority: eliminate any surviving Force sensitives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Wedding

**Author's Note:**

> chapter count is more of a guesstimate at this stage and likely to change ;) hope y'all enjoy!

Rey squeezes her eyes closed, pressing the flat of her hands over her ears as another ionized charge erupted. She hears the brief cries of the other ground soldiers before they are abruptly silenced, the sprays of dirt from the upturned dirt almost singing like rain.

“INCOMING-!” Screams another voice from down the field. She doesn’t let herself think about who it is, because there’s the sound of another charge that cuts it short.

 _Breathe,_ she thinks to herself, trying to keep her senses open. _Wait for the opening._

“MORE FIRST ORDER-“

“TIE FIGHTERS ON THE HORIZON!”

Rey curls further into herself, the log she’s pressed behind doing little to work as a barricade against the incoming assault squads. Hums of energy sing near her ears as they connect with the ground or the people on it, and she tries to fight the pain of feeling the lights go out in the Force.

This is supposed to be the rescue. It’s going badly.

 _Rey?_ She hears a voice call out in the darkness. One that’s instantly familiar to her. _Please don’t tell me you’re down here._

Another explosion, this one close enough for her to feel the heat on her cheek.

 _Too late,_ she sends back through the Force.

_Damn it, Rey! Get out while you—_

Rey ducks to the side, rolling and landing in a hunch just in time to avoid another charge going off. Shards of tree trunk fly into the air, and Rey crosses her arms in front of her face to avoid damage from the debris.

 _Where are you and the other hostages?_ She demands.

_Rey-_

_We don’t have time for this, Finn!_

She gets the distinct impression that he’s not happy with her. But that doesn’t matter. He can be unhappy with her once they’re both back to the base on Manaan. It takes a moment, but soon enough she sees it as clearly as she’s standing in the room with him and the other defecting Stormtroopers:

_Four slate-colored walls. Little sunlight. Finn kneels, a laceration going vertically down his eye and his hands tied behind his back. Behind him, there’s five other prisoners—men and women all around Finn’s age. The former Stormtroopers he went in to rescue. They also show signs of “not coming along quietly.”_

_Look up,_ Rey requests.

_Finn sighs, tilting his head. There’s one, small window that’s barred on the outside—looking out it, Rey can see the bottom of a speeder. She does the mental calculations, cross-referencing what she sees with the blueprints gathered from Blue Team._

_Do you hear anything?_ She asks with a little bit of a strain.

 _Some low engines, whatever you’re doing it’s got them worked up outside,_ Finn observes.

Rey smiles, even though the situation absolutely does not call for it. _Got it. Hold on, I’m on my way._

 _It’s not too late to head back._ His voice is soft across their connection. _Rey, this one we might not walk out of._

There’s a whistle. Rey has just enough time to project the Force out in a protective dome around her. She lets out a gasp of exertion when the detonator goes off—plasma exploding and surrounding her. With all of her mental strength, she pulls it toward a center nexus with telekinesis, gritting her teeth as she moves her hands in a slow circle to form it into a ball. Once the plasma’s gathered, she pushes with all of her will and sends the pieces of the bomb off into the copse of trees.

_REY_

_I’m fine!_

_You’re not fine! That was a bomb-_

_I’m not leaving you!_ She shouts back, letting out a heaving exhale as she stands. _Don’t you remember our promise at the beginning of all this?_

_Rey…_

_Don’t you?!_

There’s a pause. Then she hears him, impossibly sad and worried but trying to joke through it. As he always does.

_If you can get here in ten minutes, I’ll buy your beer._

Rey smiles even though her entire body has slight trembles from fear. She reaches back, grabbing the hilt of her lightsaber and mentally preparing.

 _Five minutes,_ she counters, _and you buy everyone’s beer. Even BB-8._

_Deal. Rey?_

_Yes?_

_…I love you._

Rey bites the inside of her cheek. _I love you too. And I’ll see you soon._

\--

She takes a last breath.

And runs.

\--

The shots and screams echo around her as she goes by them, using the Force and her own instincts to navigate the trenches, barricades, and fallen bodies that litter the ground between the Resistance’s landing pad and the bunker where she knows Finn’s being held. Her blood pumps, her side emits a stabbing pain with every breath, but she doesn’t stop. Whenever someone gets in her way, she extends her arm and pushes them with the Force. If they get too close, she swings up an end of her lightsaber and keeps moving.

She has to keep moving.

As she goes, she hears him in the back of her mind.

_LEFT!_

She pivots.

_MORE LEFT!_

She rolls down to a crouch as a blaster shot flies past where her shoulder once was. She pushes herself up and moves forward.

**_LEFTER_ **

She leaps to the side just as a cannon explodes the ground in front of her. With a huff, she blows the hair out of her face and sprints again. The bunker grows closer, and she sees the door to the cargo hold sliding shut-

Rey throws out her arm, lets out a grunt of strain, and _rips_ with the Force. The doors crumple like wads of sheet-metal, and Rey slides in between them. Once she’s clear on the other side, she grabs the doors again, and pushes them back together—making a fist to wad them up into an impossible entrance.

Her heart’s in her throat. Her stomach is so strained from her heavy breathing that she feels nauseous.

But it’s worth it. _Made it._

She hears just a little bit of awe in Finn’s voice as it bounces across her mind. _You’re insane._

Rey smiles. _I know._

\--

She makes quick work of navigating the halls of the bunker, following Finn’s presence in the Force and mind-wiping any guard she comes across. By the time she gets to the holding cells, half the First Order’s forces on Ansek think they’re moisture farmers.

Casting a fearful look around, Rey breaks off the paneling of the security panel, ripping out the wires as quickly as she can. There’s a hissing noise as they overload, the door sliding up.

Rey doesn’t waste any time, running in and immediately making her way to Finn.

He looks up at her with a goofy sort of smile, relief clear in his expression as she kneels in front of him and presses a quick kiss to his forehead.  The other prisoners look at her in a combination of wariness and awe—as if this a new test from their jailors. She’ll have to convince them later.

“Are you hurt?” She asks him, reaching behind him to undo the restrainers around his wrists.  They fall with a small push from the Force.

“Nothing I can’t handle,” he says. She goes to move on to release the other prisoners, but he grabs her arm and pulls her into a full kiss. She’s frozen for a second, before she returns it back with a far greater enthusiasm, her hands framing his face as he pulls her against his chest with one arm.

“No more suicide runs,” he whispers into her neck after they break apart. His embrace tightens.

“We’d better get going,” she says quietly instead of a promise, reluctantly letting him go to get to the other Stormtroopers.

He lets her go reluctantly, giving a nod as he stands and starts helping his fellow captives out of their restraints.

One of the prisoners, a woman with sleek black hair cut into a severe bob, stares at Rey as she undoes her cuffs. “Who are you?”

She offers what she hopes is a reassuring look. “I’m a Jedi, and I’m here to rescue you.”

The woman’s eyes narrow as she rubs her chafed wrist. “There aren’t any Jedi left.”

“There’s two.”

Finn clears his throat as he helps a man to his feet.

Rey smiles. “And a half.” She sends him an arc look. “Which we’re talking about once we get home, by the way.”

They meet each other’s gazes. The corner of his lips tilts up into a small, almost secretive grin. She returns it with one of her own. _What is it?_

Finn takes a moment to respond. _Got something I want to ask you, once we get out of all this._

There’s the sound of another explosion. Rey, Finn, and the others who are standing rock slightly with it.

“Let’s move!” Barks one of the Stormtroopers, a man with a cleft chin and fire-red hair. “Before the place caves down or more guards show up.”

“Right.” Rey shakes off the curiosity Finn’s thoughts have given her as she turns to her partner. “How were you getting out of here?”

“Speeders. There’s three of them parked on the other side of the building. We ride four kilometers west, and that’s where the rendezvous point was supposed to be.”

“That’s where we landed,” Rey confirms.

“Got it.” Finn turns to the Stormtroopers. “Who here can drive?”

Three of them raise their hands. Finn evaluates his people for a moment, before he points at two of them. “Glitch,” the woman with the black hair looks up, “and Recoil,” the youngest of them, “You two take one each. Rey will drive the other. Recoil, you can take three passengers, Glitch the other two. _Follow our lead,_ understand?”

“Sir,” they all say in near unison. Rey fights the shiver that courses down her neck.

“Let’s do this,” she says instead.

\--

They exit the bunker with minimal obstacles—two patrol units that are easily wiped out by Rey Force-pushing their heads into one another. Once they break out into the clearing, they move quickly to avoid drawing the attention of the firing cannons that frame the bunker. Rey hops onto the speeder, Finn follows close behind.

His arms wrap around her waist and he leans his head forward to her ear. He starts to say something-

Rey fires up the ion engines. “What?”

“I said-!“

An explosion a few feet away.

“-LET’S GET MARRIED!” He screams.

Rey turns her attention away from the speeder long enough to send him an incredulous look. “ _Now_?”

“What? _No—not right now, people are trying to shoot us!_ When we get back!”

She doesn’t have to think about it for very long as she kicks the speeder into drive. “Alright!”

“Really!”

“I said so, didn’t I!”

He grins.

Rey laughs. “Now hold on!”

And launches forward.

\--

They make it. It’s not easy.

First Order troops shoot at them as they retreat, nearly taking out Recoil’s speeder. Rey holds the bike together with the Force long enough for them to breach the clearing of the rendezvous point, then gives the passengers a few moments to jump off before her hold slips and the speeder ignites.

Resistance transports descend above them, and Finn hops off the speeder as Rey shuts it down.

“We’re not dead!” He exclaims in delight, grabbing onto her forearm with one hand and cupping her cheek with the other. Finn’s expression goes soft before he throws his head back in a huge, relieved laugh.

“And I’m getting married!” He taunts the universe, as if daring the First Order to try and explode them again.

“You’re getting married,” she confirms.

Finn grabs her from the bike, and spins her around in a circle that lifts her feet from the ground.

\--

The war is young, then.  
They’re still able to have moments where it feels like they’ve won.

\--

They get married that night. The base on Manaan is hosted on the floor of the planet’s endless ocean, the walls made of a transparent duraplastic that lets them see the Firaxa as they drift by—their scales a vibrant yellow that breaks up the rest of the blue-black.

He hooks an arm around her waist. She rests her head on his shoulder. They’ve been able to steal a quiet moment away from the endless work of war—Poe is showing the new Stormtroopers their rooms, Leia is still listening to an older briefing.

“How should we do this?” Finn asks.

Rey hums. “On Jakku, sometimes the one who proposes gives the other a bantha.”

“So I should get a bantha?”

“No. I don’t think they’d like it on Manaan.”

“Good.” He pauses. “Do the Jedi do anything?”

“Jedi aren’t supposed to marry.”

“Too bad.”

Rey smiles, snuggling closer against his side. He runs his thumb over the crest of her hip. “We’ll ask Luke,” she decides.

“That works.”

\--

There’s a party.

It’s not much of one—half of their pilots are injured from a raid. The only rations they have left are powdered synthsteak and vegmeal, the only drinks they have are water. But Leia offers them a small bottle of Corellian brandy she’s had stored away for “longer than you’d care to know.”

And there’s music. A few of the techs have small instruments, and the pilots start singing every drinking song they know. Dancing starts almost instantly—because it’s necessary, to do things that make you forget the bad during these times. And Rey lets her hair down and Finn wears his favorite leather jacket, and by the end of the night they both have flushed cheeks and the people that matter to them are offering their congratulations.

Luke says a few words at dinner—about the bright spots in the galaxy, and how a stubborn light will always outlast the dark. He smiles at Rey with tears in his eyes when he tells her he’s happy for them, and Rey hugs him until her arms ache.

Poe grins as he wraps an arm around each of their necks, lamenting the lack of a stag party. Leia sits to the side, calmly drinking her water and sending loving, only slightly sad looks their way.

When the chronos start to indicate that night is giving way to day, Finn kisses her deeply and they once again exchange the promise that they’ve kept for years now:

_I’ll always come back for you._

And then they’re husband and wife. Because love can be a quiet thing in its strength.

\--

The war is young, then.  
Soon will come the moments where they lose.


	2. The Harbor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for the comments + kudos, much appreciated!!!

_Three years later._

Waking up was an easy process this morning. The sun came in through the open window, warming his back and coaxing him out of a heavy and restful sleep. The rough sheets they slept on felt nice for once, his leg draped over one of hers. Finn pushes away sleep, smiling a little at the first sight of the day through the thick copse of trees that surround their hut.

Rey sleeps on her side, her near-naked back facing him. And Finn relaxes, letting two of his fingers absently trace from the waistband of her pants to the top of her neck. He absently plays with the ends of Rey’s hair—now kept in a short bob that rests a few inches above her shoulders.

Not all mornings are easy. The last two years in particular.

But this one is. And he doesn’t feel up to wasting it.

Finn grins as he shuffles closer, until her back is flush against his chest. He lets an arm rest across her waist as he presses a slow kiss to the side of her neck.

“Rey,” he murmurs.

“Hrngh,” she grunts back in annoyance, though she snuggles into his body.

He kisses behind her ear. “None of the kids are up yet.”

“None of the Reys are up yet…” she mumbles.

Finn smiles, resting his cheek against her shoulder. “Okay, I’ll wait.”

Rey snorts. Shifting to look back at him. He watches as she blinks the sleep from her eyes. She lets out a slow yawn before she cranes her neck further back to kiss him.

He returns the favor, unhurried. Today there’s no warnings on the comm chatter, no fighters on the horizon.  Rey rolls slightly until she rests on her back, one of her hands resting on his bare chest.

“I need to finish shield generator repairs,” she says with just the barest hint of a whine, squirming until her head rests under his chin and Finn has become an actual human cocoon for his wife.

“I can see you’re in a hurry.”

“Mhm.”

He runs his hand over her back in circles. His other starts to gently hold her waist, running down-

A baby’s cry pierces the still of the morning. Both Finn and Rey deflate that familiar deflation of new parents who are not going to be getting anything.

“Your turn,” Rey grumbles.

“No way, I did the last diaper change.”

She rolls back. “I fed her at three.”

They meet each other’s gaze. Their eyes narrow.

And both their hands shoot out.

“Mynock!” Rey crows, victorious with her fingers in a V.

Finn looks down at his traitorous fist representing the Sarlaacc, eyes rolling up before he kisses Rey briefly on the nose. He pulls himself reluctantly out of bed, pulling on the black underlay shirt and pants he’s been favoring since their time in the Harbor.

“Finn?”

“Yeah?”

“Make sure to take Canderous out for shooting,” Rey warns as she shrugs on her own, light-grey, sleeveless tunic. “Pretty sure he’s about to explode something.”

“ _Again_?”

“Caught him around the artillery cannons,” Rey says, her nose scrunching up. “Bored, I think.”

Finn stands, stretching his arms over his head and nodding. “Firing range it is.”

\--

Luka is the cutest baby in the whole galaxy.

It’s possible that fatherhood has made him biased, but it’s also just as possible that he is 100% right and Luka is the cutest baby in the whole galaxy. And probably a couple others.

Finn bends down to pick up his eight-month old daughter, her tiny (and angry!) fists grabbing hold of his shirt with a grip that is slightly alarming in an infant.

“Baby rancor,” he mutters with affection against her tiny (and soft!) head. When she doesn’t stop crying, he rocks her with the languid, forty-five degree motions Kes showed him a few months ago when he came with supplies. After a few moments, she transitions from what Finn has dubbed her Rancor Mode into her Gizka Mode, squirming and wriggly and wanting down.

He sighs, putting her back in the crib Rey fashioned out of an old trunk, a hand absently spinning the mobile hanging above it with the practice of a well-rehearsed routine. Luka looks up at the dangling animals Rey twisted out of scrap metal and old fabric, eyes focusing on the tiny pylat bird that Finn guessed was her favorite because she was going to end up a moon jockey pilot just like Uncle Poe. Or a genius engineer. A moon jockey pilot genius engineer.

Finn tucks her stuffed Eopie under her arm with the movements of a man dismantling a bomb, and backs away with quiet, sliding steps to grab the baby sling.

The sun is up on Kashyyyk, and that means it’s unfortunately time to get to work.

\--

It’s been three years since the Resistance stronghold was flattened by the First Order in a surprise attack. The worst thing about it the fact that they didn’t even know what they had lost—so many of their friends and allies were unaccounted for. The optimistic side of Finn hopes that it’s because they’re underground, that Leia and Poe and Jess and the others had been able to escape the decimation of their base on Corellia and made for somewhere else. Somewhere hidden, where they were slowing rebuilding what the Order had torn asunder. The fact that Leia Organa’s death hasn’t been broadcasted is enough to give Finn hope.

But he’s always going to feel guilty for not being there when the base fell. Just like he knows Rey is always going to feel guilty for not saving Luke.

Her old master’s namesake sits happily strapped to Finn’s chest as he prepares a massive pot of porridge for their makeshift family. Cooking was not Rey’s strongest suit, but thankfully learning how to forage and prepare edible meals had been part of Finn’s Stormtrooper survival training. Plus, Chewbacca had solemnly borrowed him a Wookiee datapad of recipes.

Luka gives encouraging baby gurgles as Finn sets out fourteen bowls and one bottle. The last two years in the remotes of Kashyyk’s Kkowir forests were not without their difficulties. Keeping off the grid from First Order patrols, attempting to rescue defectors and children from the Stormtrooper program with a next-to-nothing arsenal, and just day-to-day survival kept them all on their toes. But there’s something about setting a full table that Finn would never trade for anything. Even if there are days he can’t stop thinking about the empty chairs that should be occupied around it.

“Sorrysorry _sorry_!” Comes a blur of blue by his hips, and Finn barely has time to yell for Mission to _slow down_ before the young Twi’lek is frantically grabbing their crude eating utensils and near-throwing them on the table next to the bowls. “Zaalbar told me that it was almost breakfast but I ignored him because there were some _great_ mysess blossoms-“ the eight-year old reaches up to pat Luka’s curly head of hair, then reaches into her utility pack and pulls out a flower. Luka squeals in delight when Mission tucks it behind her ear. “-Hi Luka! And _anyway_ did you know that if you go to the other side of Kerritamba, there’s, like, a whole _field_ of-“

“Misson,” Finn says with all of his patience. “Thank you for getting Luka a flower. How about we grab the water?”

The girl tosses one of her lekku over her shoulder. Giving a mock-salute. “On it!”

And she’s as much of a blue blur on her way out of the eating hut as she was on the way in.

Finn shakes his head. Mission had been one of the first kids he, Rey, and Chewbacca had taken under their wing—a street urchin digging around the undercity of Nar Shaddaa. While at first she was withdrawn, after meeting her Wookiee friend Zaalbar, there was honestly no stopping her. Even if sometimes Finn had to remind her not to pickpocket the other children.

“What are we having-” and in the same breath, “-smells awful.”

Finn recognizes the cantankerous grunt immediately. He doesn’t look up as he starts to ladle food into the bowls. “Morning, grump.”

“Hmph,” snorts Jolee as he takes an unceremonious seat in his usual spot. The old man had been on Kashyyyk longer than any of them besides Chewbacca, living a hermit existence on the forest floor. One day he had come up the lift to complain about the racket. Two years later, he still hasn’t left. His weathered, sour expression softens when Luka kicks out at him from Finn’s baby sling. “That wife of yours is making it hard to get some shut-eye. All that clanking and thumping.”

Finn meets his gaze, very seriously. “Tell me about it.”

Jolee’s face flickers in a grin before it returns to its severely put-upon expression. “ _Young people.”_

Finn just slides him a mug of caf. Jolee snorts before he takes it. “Hope it’s strong.”

“Maybe it’ll cheer you up.”

“Not likely, young man.” He takes a sip and smiles in brief gratitude. “Let me know when she’s done wrangling the brats. Might be able to get a nap in. For once.”

The sound of shattered pottery followed by Mission whispering _STANG!_ interrupts their conversation.

Jolee scowls, pushing himself up. “You finish the grub, I’ll see what the kid’s broken now.”

Finn makes sure to spoon out Jolee’s food with the most unappetizing _plop!,_ to which the old man shakes his head before he goes toward the storeroom.

\--

The Harbor is the name they gave their temporary safehaven. An elaborate system of pulleys, lifts, bridges, and treehouses all stationed in the trees, it took a little under a year to build. With Chewbacca’s help, they had developed a friendly relationship with the nearby Wookiee village of Kerritamba, trading supplies for maintenance on ships and weapons. Rey had managed to rig up a comm system in the dense forest, and through it they had been able to get ahold of Kes Dameron, Poe’s father, on Yavin IV. The old man stopped by every now and then to drop off any inventory the Wookiees couldn’t provide and intel.

The last two years had seen the huts grow into something resembling a small village of their own. Originally just the three of them, they were soon joined by Mission and Jolee. Then others—Canderous, Atton, Mira, and Brianna—kids they rescued from Stormtrooper indoctrination. Bao-Dur, Visas, and Juhani—Force Sensitives that Rey discovered on one of her hunts for information about Leia and Poe. Mical, a researcher that Finn honestly thinks ended up here by mistake. And last year, in a rare moment of unguarded happiness, Luka.

Here, they had done their best to continue Luke’s work and train the next generation of Jedi. There were rough patches—isolated in the forest, constantly looking over their shoulder for TIE fighters and First Order thugs—but they were making it work. The older Force Sensitive kids—Bao-Dur, Atton, Visas, and Juhani—were going to start collecting materials for their first lightsabers next week. Canderous was getting better with melee weapons and hand-to-hand combat. Mira was learning how to make grenades and mines in her spare time—troubling, for a thirteen year old. But useful.

Finn’s lightsabers rest on his hip, tucked under the baby sling. He finished them just before they had to run. A reminder of what they all had lost, and what they still had left to protect.

Luka’s pudgy (and strong!) arms reach out to the side, and Finn stops his domestic warm-up to see what’s caught Luka’s attention.

He smiles.

Outside the window, he sees Rey is suspended from a branch across The Harbor, a grappling cord tied snugly around her as she braces herself against the tree. On one side of her, he sees the grey-hued skin and horns of Bao-Dur, the Zabrak wrapping his only arm tightly around his own cord. On the other, Mira’s shock of red hair is a break against the endless green-grey-brown of Kkowir. Further down, sixteen-year-old Atton leans against one of the bridge rails—his arms crossed over his leather jacket and carefully paying attention to Rey’s lecture even though he’s trying desperately hard to look like he’s not.

“Now, the generator has remote access. So how should we rewire this panel?” Rey asks patiently, only observing as Bao-Dur and Mira collaborate on what to Finn looks like an old, metal box.

“Power down main and auxiliary grids,” Bao-Dur’s calm voice answers.

“Good! Why?”

“We’d blow up and die,” Mira says matter-of-factly.

Rey grins.

Finn gives them another moment, before he and Luka go to the bell and ring it for meal time.

\--

“What are we doing down here,” Canderous grumbles to his side. The seventeen year old trails behind him, just barely. Enough to show there’s protest without disrespect.

Finn pushes away some vegetation. The forest floor—called the Shadowlands by the Wookiees—is far from a safe place. Permanently dark, dangerous animals such as terentatenks and katarns are lurking around nearly every corner. He casts out his senses in the way Rey has taught him too, scanning for any lifeforms that might yield potential threats. The land, so far, is empty.

“Heard about the artillery cannon incident,” is all Finn says in lieu of an answer. The pair of them keep crossing the soft, spongy ground of the planet surface. “I know you’re old enough to know that’s not smart.”

Canderous’s scowl is almost a tangible thing. Having been in Stormtrooper training longer than the others, the Mandalorian-born teen has a restlessness that Finn’s more than familiar with. The urge to be proactive, to have orders to follow. He gets it.

What’s not cool is when that restlessness turns into recklessness. A line the kid’s always darting over.

“I was calibrating,” Canderous says defensively. “Thing was rusted over. Wouldn’t have been any use if we were attacked.”

“You almost shorted out the generator. Rey had to spend the morning repairing it with Bao-Dur and Mira.”

“Yeah, well.” Canderous doesn’t have it in him to form an apology, so the half-started sentence hangs for a moment. “They get it running?”

“You had use of the refreshers this morning, didn’t you?”

A soft grunt.

Finn adjusts the strap around his shoulder where his heavy blaster hangs. Even though it’s old, he’s kept regular maintenance on the weapon since Han gave it to him all those years ago. His Force perception does a final sweep, before his feet stop. “Here should do it.”

“Do what?” Canderous growls as Finn turns to face him. The buzzcut hair and tiny nicks and scars on his face making him appear older than he is.

Finn pulls off the blaster with a smooth motion from his shoulders, tossing it at Canderous who catches it with the well-regulated discipline of Phasma’s training. “Turns out there’s some terentareks chewing on Rey’s power lines. Feel like target practice?”

For the first time in over a month, Canderous smiles. Teeth bared and upper lip curled.

\--

The sun’s starting to set by the time Finn makes it back to the family hut he, Rey, and Luka share, and he’s exhausted. It’s always exhausting, trying to make a life on the wilderness and on the run. He stops by Luka’s crib, where she dozes off in a peaceful (and cute!) slumber. One he knows is about to end in two hours or so when she decides to wake up crying or pooping or whatever other baby duty she decided to take on.

Finn bends down to kiss her forehead, pushing away some of the springy curls that are starting to get long. He walks into the next part of the hut, where Rey is meditating in the center of their room. Her clothes are dirty—covered in grease and mud and sweat—and her skin is tinged red from working all day in the sun. Her double-bladed lightsaber rests by her thigh.

She’s beautiful.

He takes a few steps before he collapses in a less graceful pile across from her on the floor. Rey’s gone into the Force, he feels it on the edge of his senses. So he just waits, folding his arms behind his back and looking up at the ceiling. Once he feels her mind return to the _now,_ he speaks.

“Chewbacca’s gonna be another day in the village.”

 Rey’s brows furrow, her eyes still gently closed. “Anything wrong?”

“Something about a girlfriend, actually.”

She snorts. “Maz will be upset.”

Finn doesn’t need to add the _if she’s alive,_ because suddenly a somber mood takes over their small, cozy hut that they’ve made into a home. Rey unfolds her legs and stretches, opening her eyes and shifting to lay next to Finn on the floor. He gracelessly flings out his arm so she can use it as a pillow, the edges of her hair tickling his bare skin.

“I’ve got a bad feeling,” Rey whispers.

“What is it?” Rey, he knows, is stronger in the Force than he is. More sensitive to it, more comfortable with the lightsaber. He’s only been practicing the Jedi ways for a few years—he’s been conditioned to be a soldier for most of his life.

She frowns, snuggling closer to him. “I think you should start sparring with me again.”

“We spar every other day.”

“With your lightsabers.”

He hesitates, but nods. “Sure. What’s up?”

Rey smells like dirt and sun. He kisses the crown of her head. “…something dark is coming. Soon.”

Finn’s heart slows in his chest. “Kylo Ren?”

She looks away. “Maybe.” A breath. “I’m going to have the older students start constructing their lightsabers tomorrow. They’re ready.”

“The sooner they can defend themselves the better,” Finn agrees. “Canderous asked to start doing perimeter checks on his own.”

“That’ll make Jolee happy.”

“Nothing makes Jolee happy.”

Rey smiles, some of the tension easing as Finn continues to hold her. His fingers lace through hers, and she kisses the back of his hand. They enjoy the silence of each other’s company—a small respite in the constant work of survival.

\--

The month passes. Life goes on in a constant parade of work and training. Canderous builds a rotation for the non-Force sensitives of the Harbor, one that Finn finds himself amusingly scheduled into. Jolee keeps a watchful, if not ornery, eye on the younger ones. Rey oversees the construction of the older students’ lightsabers, and Finn leads them into the wilds of Kashyyyk to help them find crystals to power their weapons.

Bao-Dur, unsurprisingly, finishes his first. The blade is a bright orange, perfectly executed and balanced. Rey almost sheds a tear over it—Bao-Dur has become the closest thing she has to an apprentice.

Visas is next, her double-bladed saber modeled after Rey’s. The color of the weapon is a muted shade of purple.

Then Juhani, her blue blade stable after a rushed first attempt.

Atton struggles the most, but when his saberstaff ignites with an acidic yellow glow, there’s a genuine look of pride on his normally scowling features.

\--

That night, they throw a party to celebrate. Their friends from Kerritamba host a bonfire in honor of their new warriors, and there’s music, dancing, and alcohol that he tries fruitlessly to keep out of the troublemakers’ cups.

Mission, Mira, Atton, and a perplexed Zaalbar start up a game of pazaak, betting with chores. Brianna awkwardly asks Juhani to dance. Visas and Mical sit with Chewbacca and the elders of Kerritamba, who instruct them patiently in their dialect. Bao-Dur and Canderous argue passionately about something that Finn keeps a wary eye on.

And Rey sits to the side, smiling but not in a way that Finn fully believes. He sits by the fire, a drink in his hand and Luka in his lap—watching Rey on the other side of it.

“Give me the kid,” Jolee says, “And go keep your wife company, young man.”

Finn sends him a shocked look.

“What?” Jolee demands. “I like babies. They know when not to sass their elders and don’t try to kill them every morning with fungi pudding.”

He hesitantly gives Luka to her surrogate grandfather figure (with Jolee, _worrying_ ) and stands. “Thanks, I’ll be right back.”

Jolee waves his hand. “Have a drink, you kids need it.”

Finn secretly agrees, and gets a cup for Rey before he walks over to her.

She looks up. “Hey,” she greets softly.

“Hey,” Finn says back with love, offering her a cup which she takes. “Want to go for a walk?”

Her eyes drift to where Luka is currently being lectured on Jolee’s knee (unimpressed!), and she nods.

\--

They end up sitting on a bridge, their feet dangling from the railing and her cheek on his shoulder.

“What’s wrong?” Finn asks, sensing her emotions through the Force.

Rey closes her eyes, and he’s not surprised when he feels warm drops pepper his shoulder. “Nothing.” She sniffs. “They’ve done a good job on their lightsabers.”

“Yeah. Atton tried to copy yours, by the way.”

She gives a wet laugh. “Couple shades off.”

He nudges her with an elbow. “Go easy on him.”

Rey rolls her eyes, but he notices that the tears don’t go away. Her back heaves with a slow sort of sob. “I’m sorry.”

He wraps his arm tightly around her. “You don’t need to be sorry.”

Rey buries her face deeper into his jacket. “I just miss him,” she whispers.

He kisses the top of her head. “I know. I miss him too.”

\--

When they return to the party, they dedicate their next drink to Luke Skywalker.

\--

Everything goes on as normal for a week. But Finn notices the dark cloud that seems to be hovering over their shelter, feels Rey growing more and more concerned in the Force.

\--

The next week, Kes Dameron brings medical supplies and news neither of them want to hear.

The old man sits with Finn at the table. Jolee, Chewbacca, and Rey joining them as they exchange intel on the First Order and the possible surviving members of the Resistance. Luka plays with her Eopie on a blanket near Rey’s feet.

Face cast almost grey, Kes slides a datapad across the table. “It’s just been posted,” he prefaces.

Finn grabs the datapad, angling it so Rey can also read over his shoulder. His grip tightens on the device as he reads the bulletin.

His face flashes across the screen. Then Rey’s.

**_50,000 CREDIT BOUNTY FOR FUGITIVES_ **

“So they know we’re alive,” Rey says first. Her hand finds his under the table and he squeezes. “We knew that was only a matter of time.”

Kes only stares at them, dead-eyed, as the screen flickers again.

**_10,000 CREDIT BOUNTY FOR ANY FORCE SENSITIVE  
DEAD OR ALIVE_ **

“Hardly news,” Jolee mutters, but he rubs his chin in concern.

“No,” Kes agrees. But he pulls out another datapad. “But this was just patched to me from Wessiri’s team.”

Finn flips through the files, seeing fuzzy images of tanks. He can’t make out what’s inside them, but they’re surrounded by scientists wearing the insignia of the First Order. “What’s this supposed to be?”

Kes presses his lips together. “They think they’re…making something in the labs.”

Rey’s head snaps up. “What?”

“Hunters,” he says in a hesitant tone, as if he can’t quite make sense of it himself. “That track Force energy. They’re calling them voxyn.”

Rey’s grip goes lax in Finn’s hand. And their daughter giggles as she levitates her stuffed toy just a little above the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -The Harbor kids (+Jolee) are all AU'd versions of party members from the Knights of the Old Republic games. [Bao-Dur](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Bao-Dur), [Canderous Ordo](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Canderous_Ordo), [Jolee Bindo](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Jolee_Bindo), [Mission Vao](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Mission_Vao), [Mira](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Mira), [Juhani](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Juhani), [Visas Marr](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Visas_Marr), [Atton Rand](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Atton_Rand), [Brianna](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Brianna), [Mical](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Mical), and [Zaalbar](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Zaalbar)
> 
> -[Voxyn](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Voxyn) are from the EU--nasty things
> 
> -[Kkowir Forest](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Kkowir_Forest), [Kerritamba Village](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Kerritamba_Village), and the [Shadowlands](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Shadowlands)
> 
> -[Kes Dameron](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Kes_Dameron), from the Shattered Empire comics
> 
> -[Iella Wessiri](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Iella_Wessiri_Antilles), a Rebel spy in the EU


End file.
